Philippians 1:3

“I thank my God upon every remembrance of you.” Philippians 1:3

Can we really thank God for other people? Paul said he thanked God all the time for the people of God. Many times we see people as problems in our lives. People complain, people grumble, people take advantage, people hurt others, people betray and people do many other horrible things! Even the Philippian church made Paul’s Job a lot more difficult than it needed to be. He had to write to them to correct them, because some of the leaders were causing division in the church.

Yes, people outside of the church that don’t know God, and people within the church that know God, cause many problems and hurt many people. Although this is true, we need to understand that God loves people! He loves rebellious people, and we all are rebellious! We need to start to be thankful for all the people God puts in our lives, even if some of them cause us pain! We cannot just write them off, because God has never written us off. We need to give God thanks for them!

The people in your life are the exact people God has chosen to use to conform you into the image of His Son! So, thank God for them and try to serve them even if you get no service in return! This is what God does for you every day!